Conveyor with tracking control



June 9, 1959 P. J. wH|TLEY coNvEYoR WITH TRACKING coNTRoL Filed July 29, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORN EYS.

1N VEN TOR. HML d /l/rz E);

all f',

l OEI I all-Il@ u OIQII .GMINI June 9, 1959 P. J. wHrrLEY CONVEYOR WITH TRACKING CONTROL 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed July 29, 1955 ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent O CONVEYOR WITH TRACKING CDNTROL Paul J. Whitley, Middletown, Ohio, assignor to Armco Steel Corporation, Middletown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application July 29, 1955, Serial No. 525,290

Claims. (Cl. 271-2.6)

This invention relates to a conveyor with tracking control and more particularly to a conveyor over which a metallic strip passes in -a strip processing line where diculty is encountered with a'proper tracking of the strip through the line on account of the differences in camber of the succeeding coils which are welded end to end to form the strip.

The problem is greatly magnied where the conveyor in question is within a treatment chamber, as for example a furnace or a cooling zone of a furnace, where the lrnace or its cooling zone are supplied with a particular treatment atmosphere and where contamination by outside air must be avoided.

A specific instance wherein great diiculties are .encountered is in the coating of strip metal with zinc and the like in accordance with the teachings of the Sendzimir Patents No. 2,110,893 dated March 15, 1938, No. 2,136,957 dated November l5, 1938, and No. 2,197,622 dated April 16, 1940. After the strip has been oxidized and reduced, it passes through a cooling zone prior to being passed through the coating bath. The strip normally passes through the cooling zone which is horizontally disposed and over a turndown roll and through a snout down into the pot. A reducing atmosphere is maintained in the cooling zone and snout in accordance with the teachings of the Sendzimir patents above mentioned. Thus, not only because of the necessity to avoid contamination by outside air but also because of the heat in the cooling zone and because of the fact that the strip cannot be observed in this area, proper control of tracking has been very diicult.

It has been the practice to adjust the turndown roll during a shutdown of the line when the furnace was cold so as to take care of an average camber. However, when the furnace was hot and the line was operating, no further adjustment could be made.

With the foregoing considerations in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide means for adjusting the conveyor within the cooling zone of such a furnace from the outside of the furnace so that adjustments for tracking control can be made during line operation. This and other objects of the invention which will be described in greater detail hereinafter or which will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specications, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of Vwhich I shall now describe an exemplary embodiment.

Reference is -made to the drawings forming a part hereof and in which:

Figure l is a longitudinal vertical cross-sectional view through the cooling zone of a furnace according to the Sendzimir patents showing the tumdown roll and a portion of the snout.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional View of the same on an enlarged scale taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view -on an enlarged scale of a portion of Figure 2.

Patented June 9, 1959 Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the conveyor and the tracking adjustment.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4, and

Figure 6 is an enlarged view of the tracking control mechanism with parts in section.

Briey, in the practice of my invention, I mount the conveyor rollers on supports which are disposed transversely of the direction of strip travel and I secure these supports at their ends pivotally to beams. The beam at one side is fixed and the vbeam at the other side is capable of longitudinal movement. I then provide a chamber extension for the furnace within which is disposed a lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends and the inner end has ball and socket engagement with the movable beam and screw means are provided to move the outer end of the lever. The screw means are sealed at their entrance into the chamber extension so that an outside control is provided without disturbing the atmosphere within the furnace.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawings, the furnace cooling zone chamber is indicated generally at 10 and the strip 11 passes through this cooling zone and over a turndown roll 12 and thence downwardly through the snout 13 into the coating pot (not shown). Within the cooling zone there may be provided the tubes 14 through which a cooling gas is supplied to cool the hot strip.

Within the cooling zone there is a framework including the channel beams 15 and the transverse supporting beams 16. Edge extensions may be provided as at 17 and 17a.

At one side vof the structure an angle beam 18 provided with an elevating block or blocks 19 is bolted or otherwise secured tothe ,channel 15 as by means of the bolts 2@ and it will be seen that the beam 18 is iixed with respect to the frame. At -the other side, a corresponding angle beam 18a provided with the spacing block or blocks 19a is not secured to the channel beam 15 so' that the angle beam 18a is capable of movement by sliding along the top of the channel 15. Secured respectively to the angle beams v18 and l18a are the roll supports 21. In the particular embodiment illustrated, the members 21 are in the form generally of flanged inverted channels having the extending webs 22 which serve'as bearings for the shafts 23 lupon which the porcelain conveyor rollers 24 are rotatably mounted. 'I'he details ofthe rollers do not constitute a part of the present invention.

By reference to Figure 4, it will be noted that the members 21 are secured to the angle beams 18 and 18a at one side by the bolts 25 which have a turning fit, whereas at the other side the bolts 25a pass through slots 25b in the member 21 to provide a slide lit.

It will be clear that when the beam 18a is moved longitudinally of the processing line, each of the members 21 is cocked or skewed slightly and this requires the slot structure 25b. It will also be clear that when the beam 18a is moved longitudinally because of the turning ts at 25, the beam 18a will be drawn very slightly toward the beam 18. However, it will be clear from a consideration of the figures that the beam 18a is free to slide both longitudinally land laterally a small amount.

In order to provide for moving the vbeam 18a from the outside of the furnace, I secure to the furnace wall 30, as by welding or the like, a chamber extension 31 which is airtight and within this chamber extension I provide a lever 32 pivotally mounted at 33. The inner end of the lever passes through a slot or notch in the member 17a and through a slot or notch in the angle beam 18a. Blocks 34 are suitably secured to the angle beam 18a and the end of the lever 32 is rounded as at 32a to provide a ball and socket connection. It will be clear that as the lever 32 is moved in a clockwise direction, as seen in Figures 4 and 6, the beam 18a will be moved toward the left and rocking of the lever 32 in a counterclockwise directionwill move the beam 18a toward the right.

To actuate the lever 32the opposed stems 35 are welded to vthe extension 31 lat diametrically opposed points. The members 35 are internally threaded to cooperate with the threaded actuating screws 36 which may be squared at their outer ends at 37 for engagement by a suitable crank or wrench. A suitable packing 38 surrounds the stems 36 and is maintained in position by the caps 39 in conventional manner.

It will be clear that ifl it becomes necessary to adjust the conveyor to control tracking of the strip, the beam 18a may be moved in the appropriate direction by withdrawing one of the actuating screws 36 and screwing in on the other one. In this manner the conveyor within the cooling zone of the furnace may be adjusted for tracking without in any way contaminating the atmosphere within the furnace. The skewing of the rollers 24 in one direction or the other will cause the stn'p 11 to drift to one side or the other.

To hold the beam 18a down on the channel beam 15, I provide the fingers 40 (Figs. 1 and 5) It will be clear that numerous modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and I therefore do not intend to limit myself except as set forth in the claims which follow.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: l. In a strip metal processing line having an elongated, sealed treatment chamber, a straight line conveyor within said chamber over which said strip passes in passing through said chamber, means associated with said conveyor to control tracking of said strip, said conveyor comprising a plurality of idler rollers disposed in parallel relation, lsaid rollers being mounted on supporting structures disposed transversely of the direction of strip travel, a fixed beam along one side of said conveyor, a longitudinally movable beam along the other side of said conveyor, said supporting structures being pivotally secured to said fixed beam at one of their ends and pivotally secured to said movable beam at their other ends, a sealed chamber extension communicating with said treatment chamber, a lever having ball and socket engagement with said movable beam and extending into said chamber extension and pivoted intermediate its ends, opposed screw means entering said extension and bearing against opposed sides of the end of said lever, means to seal the entrance of said screw means into said extension, and means to rotate said screw means to move said movable beam.

2. .In a strip metal processing line having an elongated, sealed treatment chamber, a straight line conveyor within said chamber over which said strip passes in passing through said chamber, means associated with said conveyor to control tracking of said strip, said conveyor comprising a plurality of idler rollers disposed in parallel relation, said rollers being mounted on supporting structures disposed transversely of the direction of strip travel, a iixed beam along one side of said conveyor, a longitudinally movable beam along the other side of said conveyor, said supporting structures being pivotally secured to said xed beam at one of their ends and pivotally secured to said movable beam at their other ends,

and means entering said sealed chamber in sealing engagement therewith and moving said movable beam to skew said rollers in one direction or the other while maintaining their parallelism.

3. In a strip metal processing line having an elongated, sealed treatment chamber, a straight line conveyor within said chamber over which said strip passes in passing through said chamber, means associated with said conveyor to control tracking of said strip, said conveyor comprising a plurality of idler rollers disposed in parallel relation, said rollers being mounted on supporting structures disposed transversely of the direction of strip travel, a xed beam along one side of said conveyor, a longitudinally movable beam along the other side of said conveyor, said supporting structures being pivotally secured to said iixed beam at one of their ends and pivotally secured to said movable beam at their other ends, a sealed chamber extension communicating with said treatment chamber, means in engagement with said movable beam extending into said chamber extension for moving said movable beam, and means entering said chamber extension and in sealing engagement therewith, for actuating said beam moving means.

4. In a strip metal processing line, a straight line conveyor over which said strip passes, said conveyor having means to control tracking of said strip, said conveyor` comprising a plurality of idler roller units disposed in spaced parallel relation, each of said units comprising a number of idler rolls mounted upon a common axis, said units being mounted on supporting structures disposed transversely of the direction of strip travel, said supporting structures at one end being secured to a xed member, and said supporting structures at the other end being secured to a movable member, and said means comprising a lever pivotally mounted adjacent said movable member and having ball and socket engagement therewith at one end, and screw means for moving the other end'of said lever, whereby to skew said units in one direction or the other while maintaining their parallelism.

5. In a strip metal processing line, a straight line conveyor over which said strip passes, said conveyor having means to control tracking of said strip, said conveyor comprising a plurality of idler roller units disposed in spaced parallel relation, each of said units comprising a number of idler rolls mounted upon a common axis, said roller units being mounted on supporting structures disposed transversely of the direction of strip travel,

a fixed beam along one side of said conveyor, a longi tudinally movable beam along the other side of said conveyor, said supporting structures being pivotally secured to said fixed beam at one of their ends, and pivotally secured to said movablebeam at their other ends, and said means comprising a lever pivotally mounted adjacent said movable beam and having ball and socket engagement therewith at one end, and screw means for moving the other end of said lever, for moving said movable beam to skew said roller units in one direction or the other while maintaining their parallelism.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Lorig Apr. 19, 

